Shortly after marrying, a North Carolina bride and groom found themselves trapped in an elevator for two and a half hours, WBTV was among outlets to report. Victoria and Panav Jha, along with four members of their wedding party, were headed to a post-ceremony reception on the 16th floor of the Grand Bohemian Hotel in uptown Charlotte when the elevator came to a stop. The Charlotte Fire Department responded to what turned out to be an unusually complex entrapment. After going through standard elevator call troubleshooting procedures, the firefighters realized a rope rescue would be necessary. The trapped wedding party was hoisted one at a time to the fourth-floor landing by first responders. “We do like to lean on the elevator repair folks to help us with those situations, but, as a last resort, we have the capability and the equipment to make it work,” said Steven Pritchard, a Charlotte Fire captain for Rescue 11. Although it was a complicated scenario, the crew had trained on a similar incident just weeks before the rescue. Despite starting their marriage in an unusual predicament, the couple has a positive attitude about the experience. “It’s going to be one we remember forever. I’m going to tell my kids your mom was so beautiful, the fire department had to come,” said Panav Jha.
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